114 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 68. 



some tfeniie him, Andreas), King of Naples (whom she 

 little favoured), to be strangled, in the yeare of our 

 Lord God 13J8." 



" Marie, Queene of Scotland, being (as appeareth 

 by the Chronicles of Scotlaude and hir owne letters) 

 in love with the Earle of Both well, caused hir husband, 

 Henrie l^orde Darley, King of Scotland (whome she 

 •made small account of long time before) to be strangled, 

 and the lionse where he lodged, called Kirk of Fielde, 

 to be bio wen up with gunpowder, the 10th of Fcb- 

 juarie in the yeare of our Lord God 1567." 



In this way the analogy is pursued through 

 twelve pages ; but, for my present purpose, it is 

 not necessary to extract more of it. I beg leave 

 publicly to express my thanks to Mr. Laing for 

 thus enabling me to furnish information which 1 

 should have been glad to sup])ly, had it been in 

 my power, when I prepared volume ii. of Extracts 

 from the Stationers Registers. 



J. Patne Coi-liek. 



In assuming that some slight credit may be due 

 to one who gives public expression to a novel and 

 plausible idea, it may become me to declare that I 

 renounce all claim to the substantial merit of 

 having devised the means of carrying it into effect. 



Bolton Cornet. 



DE NAVORSCHEK. 



An idea recorded in 1841, is to be realized in 

 1851 — which promises, in various ways, to be the 

 annus mirahilis ! 



In an appeal to residents at Paris for a trans- 

 cript of certain inedited notes on Jean Paul 

 Marana, which are preserved in the hibUothcque 

 royale, I made this remark : — 



" If men of letters, of whatever nation, were more 

 disposed to interchange commodities in such a manner, 

 the beneficial effects of it in promoting mutual riches, 

 would soon become visible."— Ctni. Mug. xv. 270. 



N. S. 



The appeal was unsuccessful, and I could not 

 but ascribe the failure of it to the want of a con- 

 venient channel of communication. A remedy is 

 now provided — thanks to the example set at 

 home, and the enterprising spirit of Mr. Frederik 

 Muller of Amsterdam. 



We contemplate Holland as the school of 

 classical and oriental literature, and as the studio 

 of painters and engravers ; we admire her delicate 

 Elzevirs and her magnificent folios ; we commend 

 her for the establishment of public libraries, vuide 

 available hy printed catalogues ; we do justice to the 

 discoveries of lier early navigators ; but we had 

 scarcely heard of her vernacular literature before 

 the publications of Bosworth, and Bovvring. 



As M. Van Kampen observes, " La literature 

 hollandaise est presf[ue inconnue aux etrangers a 

 cause de la langue peu repandue qui lui sert 

 d'organe." Under such circumstances it may be 

 presumed that many a query will now be made, 

 and many a new fact elicited. AVe may expect, 

 by the means of De Navorseher, the further grati- 

 fication of rational curiosity, and the improvement 

 of historical and bibliographic literature. 



A BIDDING AT WEDDINGS IN WALES. 



The practice of "making a bidding" and send- 

 ing "bidding letters," of which the Ibllowing is a 

 specimen, is so general in most parts of Wales, 

 that printers ustially keep the form in type, and 

 make alteration in it as occasion requires. Th6 

 custom is confined to servants and mechanics in 

 towns; but in the country, farmers of the humbler 

 sort make biddings. Of lute years tea parties have 

 in Carmarthen been substituted for the bidding; 

 but persons attending pay for what they get, and 

 so incur no obligation ; but givers at a bidding 

 are expected and generally do return " all gifts 

 of the above nature whenever called ibr on a simi- 

 lar occasion." When a bidding is made, it is usual 

 for a large procession to accompany the young 

 couple to church, and thence to the house where 

 the bidiHug is liehl. Accompanying is considered 

 an addition to tlie obligation confciTed by the 

 gilt. I have seen, I dare say, six himdred persons 

 in a wedding procession, and have been in one or 

 two myself (when a child). The men walk to- 

 gether and the women together to church; but in 

 returning they walk in pairs, or often in trios, one 

 man between two women. The last time I was at 

 such a wedding I had three strapping wenches 

 attached to my person. In the country they ride, 

 an<l generally there is a deeperate race home to 

 the bidding, where you would be surprised to see 

 a comely lass, with "NVelsh hat on head and ordinary 

 dress, often take the lead of fifty or a hundred 

 smart fellows over rough roads that would shake 

 your Astley riders out of their seats and propriety. 



" Carmarthen, OctoTjer 2. 1850. 

 " As we intend to enter the Matrimonial State, on 

 Tuesday, the 2'2nd of October instant, we are encou- 

 raged hy our Friends to make a Bidding on the occa- 

 sion the same day, at the New Market House, near the 

 Market Place; when and where the favour of your 

 good and agreeable company is respectfully solicited, 

 and whatever donation you may be pleased to confer on 

 us then, will be thankfully received, warmly acknow- 

 ledged, and cheerfully repaid whenever called for on a 

 similar occasion, 



By your most obedient Servants, 



Henry Jones, 



(Shoemaker,) 



Eliza Davies. 



" The Young Man, his Father (John Jones, Shoe- 

 maker), his Sister (Mary Jones), his Grandmothet 

 (Nurse Jones), his Uncle and Aunt (George Jones, 



